508_050 audio 508_worcester 508 is a show about Worcester. This week's panel includes former <a href="http://www.worcestermagazine.com"><em>Worcester Magazine</em></a> News Editor Noah Schaffer, <a href="http://www.wormtowntaxi.com">Jeff Barnard</a>, and <a href="http://www.radioball.net">Brendan Melican</a>. <em>Worcester Magazine</em> has been sold. We discuss why Allen Fletcher sold it and what this will mean for the future of the magazine. Key documents: <a href="http://worcesteria.wordpress.com/2008/08/27/the-womag-memo/">memo from new publisher Gareth Charter</a>, Jeff Barnard's <a href="http://www.wormtowntaxi.com/2008/08/womag-last-issue.html">overview of WM history</a>, Fletcher's <a href="http://www.worcestermagazine.com/content/view/3137/">farewell editorial</a>, and Mike's <a href="http://www.pieandcoffee.org/2005/11/16/items-7/#media">old analysis of WM</a>. So what is <em>Worcester Magazine's</em> role? Jeff Barnard: Filling in the backstory. Noah Schaffer: Today you've got podcasts, like the one we're on now. You've got blogs. So it's not just a matter of providing another voice. Because, you know, if someone wants to get a viewpoint out there, they have plenty of channels these days. But what's really hard to do, unless you're a full-time reporter, is to find the stories that aren't being told in the blogs, or on talk radio, or in the daily paper, and to really fill them in in a rich, detailed way. We discuss "Brendan Melican, celebrity blogger" and his appearances on the <a href="http://www.wormtowntaxi.com/2008/08/worcester-bubblings-online.html">Dianne Williamson radio show</a> and as the <a href="http://www.worcestermagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=35&Itemid=18">last interviewee in One On One</a>. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike_benedetti/2796574759/" title="Brendan Melican on WCRN by mike.benedetti, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3055/2796574759_047930de7c_m.jpg" width="240" height="178" alt="Brendan Melican on WCRN" /></a> Also mentioned: Dianne Williamson's FCC violations, Konnie Lukes and Brendan <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/CoffeeWithKonnie160">talking about ICANN</a>. City Councilor Gary Rosen is <a href="http://www.wormtowntaxi.com/2008/08/gary-goes-temping.html">back teaching school</a>; City Councilor Rick Rushton is <a href="http://rickrushton.wordpress.com/2008/08/26/all-roads-lead-to-worcester/">gonzo blogging from the DNC</a>. People have marched <a href="http://www.PieAndCoffee.org/2008/08/25/worcester-catholic-workers-support-dcu-janitors/">on behalf of DCU janitors</a>. (<a href="http://worcester.indymedia.org/news/2005/05/1154.php">Old article by Mike on day labor in Worcester</a>, which mentions cleaning up at the DCU.) The Research Bureau is <a href="http://www.wormtowntaxi.com/2008/08/worcesters-funniest-blog.html">standing on the verge of having a blog</a>. <a href="http://cabdispatch.blogspot.com/">Joe the Dispatcher Guy</a> is blogging a lot: "I have been thinking of doing just a summary of the entire day versus every hour or every 2 hours." We discuss the prolific, boring commenters who hang out at Brendan's blog, and also traffic. 2008-08-29 2008 Worcester; 508; podcast; Worcester Magazine 2008-08-29 14:50:55 2008-08-29 14:50:04 mike.benedetti@gmail.com 2008-08-29 14:52:13 Mike Benedetti